1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to apparatus and methods for setting jewelry on ring bands. In particular, the present invention relates to techniques for efficiently inscribing positioning marks on ring bands in order to assist jewelers in setting jewelry on the ring bands.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a widely practiced custom throughout many areas of the world for women and men to wear ornamental jewelry. Typically, each ornament is singularly dedicated for use as only one type of jewelry piece. Jewelry may take a variety of different forms, and may either be worn directly attached to a wearer, as for example in the case of earrings, or it may be attached to a wearer's clothes by a fastening element such as a pin, or a broach which, in turn, may be attached to the lapel of a jacket worn by the user, or may be worn around a portion of the user, such as a bracelet, necklace, anklet, ring bands or even a belt. Although it is common to have a set of different, but matching jewelry pieces having some common characteristics, each of the different jewelry pieces in a set generally has its own ornament and is structurally and functionally independent from the other pieces in the set.
Jewelers specializing in designing ring bands are faced with a particularly daunting task when attempting to locate ornaments, such as diamonds or rubies, on a ring band. The jeweler must initially place positioning marks accurately on the ring band. Such positioning marks permit the jeweler to predetermine the location on the ring band where the ornaments will be placed. Jewelers must accurately place the ornaments on the ring band to properly manufacture the final product.
Jewelers presently rely upon guesswork and visual estimations to accurately place positioning marks on ring bands. Such manual locating techniques are plagued with improper visual estimations and "educated guesses," which ultimately results in a poor ring band product.
Based on the foregoing, it can be appreciated that what is needed to accurately place positioning marks on ring bands is a device that would permit a jeweler to accurately and efficiently place positioning marks on ring bands without the guesswork and rough visual estimations currently relied upon by jewelers. It is believed the present invention described herein solves this problem.